Addictions research is saving lives today.

New national guidelines will improve access to treatment for substance use disorders.

As COVID-19 swept across the country, a second deadly epidemic strengthened its grip on our communities. Deaths due to opioid overdoses have skyrocketed over the past year. In Ontario alone, a 60 per cent increase in opioid deaths was reported in 2020 compared to the previous year. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis was devastating with 4,460 Canadians dying in 2019—one person every two hours.

The pandemic exacerbated the opioid crisis by disrupting the supply of street drugs, making drugs more expensive, harder to get and of unknown origin or potency. Lockdown measures across the country also increased the risk that people would use alone without anyone to help them in the event of an overdose. A recent CAMH survey shows that 47 percent of respondents indicated their substance use had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CAMH has responded to this devastating health crisis by introducing new national clinical guidelines to make it easier for people to access high quality, evidence-based care for substance use disorders. Dr. Peter Selby, Clinician Scientist, Addictions Division, and CAMH, in collaboration with experts across Canada, provide recommendations for treating opioid addiction in a new document, Opioid Agonist Therapy: A Synthesis of Canadian Guidelines for Treating Opioid Use Disorder.

The new guidelines include the most up-to-date information and clinically-proven strategies such as opioid agonist therapy (OAT). OAT can include medications to prevent withdrawal, reduce cravings and prevent overdose. These medications are scientifically proven to save lives, even when people use fentanyl.

When combined with counselling and addressing the social causes and consequences of addiction, individuals can make a full recovery and get back to living their lives. The guidelines also feature less regulatory restriction and new strategies to combat stigma to make treatment adherence easier.

"We wanted to change some of the old rules that were making it hard to provide person-centered care and help people stay in treatment.  That is key because the longer people are in treatment the better they recover and the less likely they are to die from an opioid overdose." 

OAT is intended to meet each patient’s individualized needs and goals. The recovery journey is different for every individual and they may connect to different components of care during this process. This updated guideline has tried to be inclusive to a patient’s gender, age and other physical and mental health problems that could be a barrier to access to care or equitable care.

In addition to its leadership role in policy development, CAMH is also at the forefront of research focusing on population trends in substance use. CAMH conducts the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), the longest ongoing school survey in Canada—and one of the longest in the world. Researchers analyze data from the survey to identify epidemiological trends in student drug use, mental health, physical health, gambling, bullying, and other risk behaviours.

CAMH leadership in addiction medicine extends to training and education. Every doctor in Ontario who prescribes methadone for opioid use disorder has been trained by CAMH, as has every pharmacist who dispenses methadone. CAMH is also leading initiatives to reduce the overall amount of opioids being prescribed.